GAME releases at a time when a different game, of bat and ball is at its peak. You guessed right; the Cricket World Cup mania has gripped the entire country, with India beating Pakistan for a clash against Sri Lanka in the finals.

Anyway, leaving the excitement of Cricket aside, let's talk about GAME here, shall we? It's about four troubled individuals from different parts of the world - casino owner Neil Menon (Abhishek Bachchan), politician OP Ramsay (Boman Irani), actor Vikram Kapoor (Jimmy Shergill) and journalist Tisha Khanna (Shahana Goswami). All of them receive personalised handwritten invitations by billionaire Kabir Malhotra (Aupam Kher), offering them a helping hand if they arrive at his private island of Samos in Greece. Getting easily convinced and without wasting much time, all of them reach the exotic island, only to find out, they have been tricked. It turns out; they were all responsible in some way or the other, for the death of Kabir's daughter Maya (Sarah Jane Dias), three years back. Before Kabir can avenge the death of his daughter, he is found dead, in what looks like a suicide. Detective Sia Agnihotri (Kangna Ranaut) feels otherwise and interrogates the four visitors, holding them murder suspects.

The first rule of a suspense thriller is that it should be succinct. Debutant director Abhinay Deo breaks it by having copious songs and some irrelevant sub-plots which add no value. The first half is a drag, and the story doesn't move much. At one point a character says: I can't take this nonsense anymore. You know what, as a viewer, you share exactly the same sentiment.

The narrative picks up in the second half which has some adroitly done twists. But they fall short of elevating the overall impact. Too much emphasis is made on the look and feel of the film, but the plot isn't exciting enough. If you pay attention to details, chances are you will know the suspense way before it is actually revealed.

Some of the scenes defy time and logic like Vikram's story is out in a film magazine minutes after he has actually made the confession. Talk about real time updates! Amitabh Shulka's editing needed to be much tighter. Kartik Vijay's cinematography is fine. Shankar Ehsaan Loy's music is below the mark.

Abhishek Bachchan acts decently but some of his dialogues are cringe worthy. Debutante Sarah Jane Dias is impressive in her act. Kangana Ranaut is surprisingly good and her dialogue delivery has improved greatly. Excellent actors like Shahana Goswami, Jimmy Shergill and Boman Irani are wasted. Anupam Kher doesn't have much scope. Gauhar Khan is nice in her small role.

Barring some astute twists in the second half, this GAME isn't worth playing.